Sukhbir Sandhu, Gyanesh Kumar Appointed As Election Commissioners In Meeting Chaired By PM Modi

A prominent committee led by PM Modi finalised these two as new election commissioners. The committee`s members include a Union minister and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, the Congress leader in the Lok Sabha.

New Delhi: Ex-bureaucrats Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Gyanesh Kumar have been selected as the new election commissioners, as announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s panel, with Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury confirming the appointments on Thursday. Chowdhury briefed the media at his home following the panel’s meeting, revealing that out of six candidates considered, Sandhu and Kumar were chosen by the majority of the high-level committee.

He expressed reservations about the absence of the Chief Justice of India from the selection committee and noted a lack of transparency in the narrowing down of over 200 candidates to just six by the search committee led by the Law Minister.

The shortlisted candidates included Utpal Kumar Singh, Pradeep Kumar Tripathi, Gyanesh Kumar, Indevar Pandey, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, and Sudhir Kumar Gangadhar Rahate, all of whom are former bureaucrats.

Chowdhury highlighted that among these, the committee finalized the names of Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu for the election commissioner roles. Gyanesh Kumar, during his service in the Home Ministry, played a role in the revocation of Article 370.

These positions became available following Anup Chandra Pandey’s retirement on February 14 and Arun Goel’s unexpected resignation.